Temporary Marriage

A Plea from A Muslim Sister

I was fourteen years old and my relationship with my parents was on the edge
just like any other teenager. I started to become interested in boys. I felt
as if no one understood me, not even my friends. I especially didn t feel
pretty with my braces

It all changed when I met him . It was fascinating to know that a college
student would care so much about me. He was the most wonderful person. He
treated me like a queen, and soon we became the best of friends. I felt I
could tell him anything. As our friendship progressed, we talked about
different topics including religion. He had different beliefs than me; he
was Shia while I was Sunni. We always argued upon the differences. He had a
way with making things sound bettter than what they were. Soon I became very
confused.

One day he mentioned the idea of Mut'a. He told me that it was a type of
temporary marriage, which was halal even in Sunni books. At first I didn t
believe him, but he used sources such as Bukhari and Muslim. I took his word
for it, and before I realized, I was into a lot of trouble. I was in Mut'a
for four years. As time went by, I learnt that I had lost my honor and
dignity to someone who had done this to several other girls. Allah helped me
open my eyes and realize what I had gotten myself into. By now, I was on the
verge of switching beliefs to be a Shia. At this point, I decided to really
search for the truth. Since I cannot present the whole research, I have
tried to give a very brief idea about Mut'a.

I hope to inform and educate the people about the disease of Mut'a, which
is spreading rapidly in the sunni community. It is the goal of certain Shia
individuals to do Mut'a with innocent girls, who lack knowledge of religion
and experience of life. They convince them with their beliefs, and create
confusion in their minds. I beg every sister, brother, father, mother, and
friend to take a closer look at their dear ones, and make sure they do not
become victims to the concept of Mut'a.

Mut'a is a form of temporary marriage where a man can marry a woman for an
agreed amount of time and money(mahr). In Mut'a, the husband is not
financially responsible for the wife. There are no
set limits in this kind of marriage by the Shias. According Shia beliefs,
no witnesses nor a permission of the guardian is needed
(the Sunni father does not believe in Mut'a), and there is no limit on the
number of Mut'a one can do.

Also, the time period can be as little as one hour to as long as sixty
years. In addition, a man who is permanently married can do as many Mut'a
as he feels like, even with married women. This is very similar to prostitution indeed

In the history of Islam, The Prophet allowed Mut'a twice in his
lifetime. The first time the Prophet allowed it for three days, at the
war of Khaiber, and after three days it was made haram . Once Ali argued
with a man who believed in Mut'a and told him that the Prophet made Mut'a
and the meat of donkey haram on the day of Khaiber (Bukhari vol. 7, pg. 287
and vol. 4 pg. 134). This hadith can also be found in Shia hadith books,
which I will mention later. The second time the Prophet allowed it was
at the conquest of Mecca, for three days, and then he made it haram again
till the day of Judgment (Muslim vol. 4 pg. 133). Notice, the practice of
Mut'a was then made haram till the Day of Judgement.This is confirmed with
the hadiths in the following books: Imam Ahmed s Musnad vol. 16 pg. 192-193,
Muslim vol. 4, pg. 132, Bayhaki vol. 7 pg. 293-294. Since there was a time
when Mut'a was halal. Therefore, one can find hadith saying that it was
halal. However, the latter hadith, which follows the final order of
jurisprudence set by the the Prophet, takes precedence over the former
hadith.

Ninety-nine percent of the companions followed this opinion, but there was
one percent who believed Mut'a can be performed in extreme case of
necessity in the land of war. This one percent is divided into two groups.
One says, it is allowed with the Caliph's permission, and the other says
there is no need for the permission . Those who do not believe in Caliph's
permission say that it was Umar who made it haram. Their proof is based upon
an opinion by a companion namely Ibn Abbas. People misused this opinion of
Ibn Abbas until he clarified himself and said, Wallahi I did not mean what
they did! I meant similarly to what Allah meant when he allowed the meat of
dead animals and pork to be eaten in extreme necessity. This is referring to
the time when people abused the rule of necessity at time of Umar, following
the understanding of the one percent. Finally, Umar declared and taught it
to be haram when a lady came to Umar complaining about how her husband in
Mut'a, who was married, would not take responsibility of the child. He
realized how the society was becoming corrupt with similar conditions to
adultery. Thus, he had to teach people and make Mut'a haram even in the
case of the one percent opinion

The Shia themselves have a hadith narrated by Ali (r.a.a) which states that the
Prophet made Mut'a haram on the day of Khaiber (Book of Tahdeeb: vol. 7,
pg. 251, rewaya 10). The author states that Ali lied for the purposes of Taqiya. In Book of Istebsar: vol. 3, pg. 142, rewaya 5, there is a
declaration by Ali that Mut'a is haram. Again they accuse Ali of lying for Taqiya.

With the given confusion in the books of Shias regarding Mut'a, and it
being haram among the sunnis, should really make one think hard before
believing that they are doing marriage in a halal way and in the name of
Allah.

If Mut'a is not an excuse for satisfying lust, then what is it! It seems to
be the easiest solution for adultery. If Mut'a really was to be done in
case of need then why is it permissible for a married person to do Mut'a?
Also, if one cannot marry due to financial insecurity then how can one be
responsible for supporting the child and not be able to support the wife?
And how is he going to know if the child is actually his, not someone else's?

The Shia also use the Qur an, Surah 4 ayah 24, as a reference to support
Mut'a. They use this Ayah without consideration of the previous or
following verses. The Ayah cannot be looked at alone. An example of this is
Surah 107 verse 4 "So woe to the worshipers," If we look at this Ayah alone
we would think Allah is angered by the worshipers, but if we read on it says
in verse 5 "who are neglectful of their prayers." This gives a better
understanding of what Allah is telling us. If we read till the end, we will
get a better understanding of what Allah is trying to say.

Now, the Shia look at only surah 4 Ayah 24. When Allah says "Except for
those all other are lawful, provided ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts
from your property Desiring chastity, not lust," We take into consideration
the Ayah before, that describes all the women forbidden for marriage. Surah
4 Ayah 23, Prohibited to you (for marriage) are-your mothers, daughters,
sisters; father s sisters, mother s sisters;" Thus, when Allah says in Ayah
24 that all other are lawful we understand it as all other are lawful women.

The Ayah continues "seeing that ye derive enjoyment from them give them
their dower (at least)" as prescribed The Shia say that Mut'a is the
enjoyment-marriage that Allah is talking about, and that you pay for this
enjoyment. To get a clear understanding of how we translate this Ayah we
have to know this is a shariah hokoom (judgment) from Allah about the
payment of the dower.

If a man marries a woman and then divorces her, there are four different
scenarios that could happen concerning the dower. They are as follows:

1)A man does not enjoy his wife and he does not assign a dower.

2)A man does not enjoy his wife but he assigns a dower.

3)A man enjoys his wife but he doesn t assign a dower.

4)A man enjoys his wife but he doesn t pay the the assigned dower.

The first hokoom is in surah 2 verse 236, "There is no blame on you if ye
divorce a women before consummation or the fixation of their dower: but
bestow on them (a suitable gift)." There is also a hadith that the Prophet
divorced a women before he touched her or assigned a dowery. He gave her
some gifts (2 pairs of clothing), and then he released her.

The second hokoom is in surah 2 verse 237, "And if ye divorce them before
consummation but after the fixation of a dower for them, then the half of
the dower (is due to them)." The third hokoom is in surah 4 verse 4 And give
their dower as an obligation;.. In Arabic, this word that has been
translated into obligation can be more closely translated into standard
obligation . So the man should pay to her what the Muslim society has made
into a standard.

The last hokoom is if you assigned maher and enjoyed your wife you should
pay it since you enjoyed her whether there is a divorce or not.

This hokoom is in surah 4 Ayah 24, "seeing that ye derive enjoyment from
them give them their dower (at least) as prescribed; but if after a dower is
prescribed, ye agree mutually (to vary it), there is no blame on you, and
Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise." For the Shia, it is a law that you pay the
dower before the enjoyment or else there cannot be a Mut'a. This Ayah is
talking about coming to an agreement and discussing the payment of the dower
even after the whole thing is over or paying it after the enjoyment. So we
can see that Mut'a does not fit.

There are also other differences. If you keep reading to Ayah 5 it says, "If
any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women, they
may wed believing girls from among those whom your right hand possess and
Allah hath full knowledge about your faith. Ye are one from another: wed
them with the leave of their owners and give them their dowers, according to
what is reasonable: they should be chaste not lustful.. This Ayah says that
permission is needed from the guardian, and the Ayah continues teaching us
about the differences in the law of the free believer and the right hand
possess. In the end of the verse, it says that even to marry what the right
hand possess is a big dislike to Allah that a person should not do unless he
is really in danger of committing a big sin. Then Allah permitted to marry
this group, but still suggested to be patient and have self control, since
it is better for us. The same understanding can be seen in surah 23 Ayah
5-7. Allah teaches us that there are only two types of marriages allowed:
the normal one and the marriage with the right hand posses. Whoever exceeds
these two limits Allah says they are transgressors . How can Shia place the
Mut'a in the previous Ayah when this Ayah clearly limits marriage to
these two types?

Also in the Quran, we see that when ever Allah mentions marriage he also
teaches us about divorce. When a man marries a chaste woman, and wants to
leave her, he has to first divorce her. This can be seen in the following
surah and Ayahs, 65:1, 2:231, 2:232, 2:236, 2:37, 33:49, 66:5

In Mut'a, there is no divorce; once you pay the set amount of money and the
assigned time ends there is no rights, no duty, no inheritence laws, or
divorce process. The only law is that the woman waits for a period of 45
days before she enters into another Mut'a, while the man can have immediate
one, even while he is married or in another Mut'a. This goes against what
Allah assigned for marriage in the Qura'n. In Surah 2 Ayah 228 Allah says,
Divorced women shall wait concerning themselves for three monthly periods
and it is not lawful for them to hide what Allah hath created in their
wombs. If they have faith in Allah and the last day." In Mut'a she can be
pregnant with the child of her first Mut'a husband and be married to her
second Mut'a husband or the permanent. In the book of Mustadrak-Alwasa il
(Shia authentic hadith book) vol. 7 book 3 pg. 506 rewayah 8762 ,it states
that the prophet said that who ever cannot find the ability to get
married let him fast, my ummah s protection is fasting. Also in
Beharul-Alanwaar(Shia hadith book in vol.14 pg. 327 rewayah 50:21) it
states that Imam Ali said and seek protection from women desire by fasting.
What is the need for fasting if Mut'a is OK ? It is obvious that this
contradict this idea .I hope and pray that we will take this matter
seriously.

Everyday more and more girls in our community are falling victims to this
idea presented by the Shia individuals. These girls are helpless in asking
anyone for help, especially their parents. Please, teach and inform one
another about the idea of Mut'a, and our beliefs regarding it. Please do it
for the honor and dignity of our Islam and for the love of Allah!